1. Field
The present specification generally relates to glass manufacturing apparatuses and, more specifically, to melters for melting molten glass from glass batch materials and glass manufacturing apparatuses comprising the same.
2. Technical Background
Optical quality glass sheets are commonly employed in a variety of optical display devices including LCD displays, LED displays, and the like. Various manufacturing processes may be used to produce the optical quality glass sheets. These manufacturing processes generally involve melting glass precursor materials in ceramic refractory furnaces, and then producing a ribbon of glass from the glass melt by drawing the glass melt from a forming body. Individual glass sheets are then cut from the ribbon of glass. The ribbon can be extraordinarily thin, and movement of the manufacturing equipment during the drawing process (such as from seismic activity or the like) can disrupt the flatness of the glass ribbon and resultant glass sheets. In more extreme cases, seismic activity may even result in the destruction of the manufacturing apparatus itself, and in particular the melter of the glass manufacturing process.
More specifically, during normal operation, the glass melting furnace (i.e., the melter) contains many thousands of kilograms of molten glass material. Despite the significant strength and stiffness of the refractory blocks from which the melting furnace is constructed, the strength of the melter is not sufficient to resist the acceleration of the melter due to the energy released during seismic episodes. In many cases, accelerations of the melter during seismic episodes may damage the structure of the melter and cause the uncontrolled release of molten glass. Once damaged, rebuilding the melter can take months of time and cost many millions of dollars in capital outlay and lost production.
Accordingly, a glass manufacturing apparatus having a melter configured to withstand seismic episodes would provide significant insurance against such losses and reconstruction costs.